LETTERS; A Senator and 'a Dysfunctional System'

Published: February 19, 2010

Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana, in announcing his retirement from the Senate, echoed the widespread opinion that today's Senate has become ''a dysfunctional system desperately in need of reform.''

The single most important reason the Senate is so dysfunctional is that its rules of ''endless debate'' permit a minority of 41 of its 100 members to filibuster, which thwarts the will of the majority and prevents important legislation from coming to an up-or-down vote.

The Senate used to be known as the world's greatest deliberative body. Those days are a distant memory. We the people deserve and expect the Senate to legislate, not just argue. The time is long overdue for the Senate to restore democracy and majority rule and abolish the filibuster.

Richard Kavesh
Nyack, N.Y., Feb. 16, 2010

The writer is the mayor of Nyack.

To the Editor:

The announcement that Senator Evan Bayh is leaving the Senate because it has become ''dysfunctional'' is just the latest reminder that we have reached a tipping point between those who seek power for partisan purposes and those, like Mr. Bayh, who sought power to heal the people's problems.

It is a sad day and also a dire warning that we are on a treacherous course toward a total breakdown in our two-party democratic system of government.

Paul M. Wortman
East Setauket, N.Y., Feb. 16, 2010

To the Editor:

I heard the news that Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana was leaving the Senate because he felt that the government was paralyzed and that nothing could get accomplished. I couldn't agree more.

When will Congress start governing? While people are suffering, our Congress has turned into a bad daytime soap opera.

Our country was governed productively in the past, but precious time is being wasted on partisan fights. Please, for the love of all things rational and good, get it together!

I get up every day thankful that I have a job, and I work very hard to keep it. Can Congress say the same thing?

Do your job. I am paying you, and I demand that you start working together. Stop obsessing about your next sound bite on the news shows and do what the job requires. Now!

Juliet Blair
Union City, N.J., Feb. 16, 2010

To the Editor:

It is regrettable that Congress is not perfect enough for Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana. One wonders where our nation would be if we all bailed out of imperfect institutions.

Steven D. MacArthur
Overland Park, Kan., Feb. 16, 2010

To the Editor:

Thank you, Senator Bayh, and Senator Christopher J. Dodd, and while I am at it, Representative Patrick J. Kennedy! Thanks for quitting on us. I wish I could join you, but I'm not married, live alone, haven't had a full-time job since last August, and will not be able to pay the full cost of Cobra (or any other health insurance) starting in June 2010. Any savings I did have are almost gone, and I am too young for Medicare.

I know how hard it is to come back from loss, and about chronic health problems. My only son died in March 2007. Trying to live on a salary from a part-time job, and worrying about how I will pay for insulin and infusion sets to deliver the insulin can be a real bummer, never mind paying for heart medication.

If only I had a political war chest to dip into, or a home in Connecticut, or a family compound on the Cape. Believe me, I understand that life is tough. When the good guys give up, what are the rest of us to do?

The Senate Democrats seem to be unable, or afraid, to use their majority, so the Republicans are already in control of the Senate.

Victor J. Wilson
Bronx, Feb. 17, 2010

To the Editor:

We the people elected a Democrat as president. We the people elected a Democratic-controlled Senate and a Democratic-controlled House. We the people should be getting what we voted for. But we're not.

The Republicans' game plan, from Day 1, has been to say no to everything, to obstruct all legislation and to make the new, wildly popular president fail. Not his agenda, but him personally. And they're succeeding.

Trouble is, when the president and Congress fail, the country fails with them.

Our health care gets more expensive and more inaccessible. Our climate becomes more intense and more deadly. And our children end up with an education that is inadequate to be able to compete in the global marketplace.

To all those people who claim to love their country, please show it. Tell your elected officials to end this negative partisan behavior and act like patriots.